Acute toxicity of water-accommodated fraction and chemically enhanced WAF of bunker C oil and dispersant to a microalga Tetraselmis tetrathele

Abstract

This study assessed the toxicity of water-accommodated fraction (WAF) and chemically enhanced WAF (CEWAF) of bunker C oil and dispersant (DISP) to a microalga, Tetraselmis tetrathele. The 72-h median effective concentration (72-h EC₅₀) of CEWAF and DISP were determined at 3.30 % and 2.40 %, respectively. The no observed effect concentration (NOEC) of CEWAF to T. tetrathele was at 2.0 % and lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) was at 3.0 % while NOEC and LOEC of DISP to T. tetrathele were determined at 1.0 % and 2.0 %, respectively. The addition of dispersant to oil increased the amount of total PAH present in the CEWAF test solutions. DISP alone was highly toxic, and the toxicity of CEWAF was primarily caused by the presence of dispersant.